


House Elves and Clothes

by Craftybadger1234



Series: Missing and odd moments: Fifth Year [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Clothing, Gen, Hogwarts Fifth Year, House Elves, Humor, Laundry, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-02
Updated: 2018-10-02
Packaged: 2019-07-24 00:44:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16170107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Craftybadger1234/pseuds/Craftybadger1234
Summary: Harry finds the real life plot hole with House Elves and the laundry of Wizarding clothes.





	House Elves and Clothes

**Author's Note:**

> I have many questions when it comes to House Elves. Questions it saddens me to know will never be answered because I know there’s no way for an author to account for every little thing in a story. Laundry is just one area that plagues me. 
> 
> Imagine Dobby has just said the quote below, and then Harry rants at him. There are no quote marks in this fic on purpose - everything is Harry’s stream of conscious speech directed at Dobby.
> 
> Thanks to CleopatraIsMyName for looking this over for me! :)

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Ch 18: _”None of them will clean Gryffindor Tower anymore, not with the hats and socks hidden everywhere…”_

\--------

So the elves can be freed by picking up random bits of clothing by accident? Is that because the clothes Hermione sets out are there to intentionally free the elves? Does _intent_ matter?

Because Lucius Malfoy had no intention of freeing you when he threw the sock to the side. It was just luck that it was in your direction and you caught it. Like, what if a witch is trying on eight different robes, trying to decide what to wear, and she tosses one to the bed just as an elf Apparates in and the robe happens to land on the elf instead. Does that mean the elf is freed? Could an elf free itself with creative Apparition?

Or what if it’s a baby that hands the elf clothes? If Toddler Draco decided he didn’t want to wear his socks anymore and pulled them off his tiny feet and handed them to you, would that have freed you? Do wizards and witches need to watch their toddlers and be sure they don’t accidentally free an elf? Or does the person freeing the elf have to be of age?

And what about the laundry? I know house elves do laundry but how do you handle clothes if you’re not meant to handle clothes? I can see you not being able to take clothes from a wardrobe and declare yourself free but you have to take the clothes to wash them. The clothes are freely given to you then, even if they’re just sitting in a laundry bin, right?

How do clothes waiting to be laundered compare to clothes scattered around the room? Because Hermione’s hats are scattered around the room and the elves are afraid to touch them. But they must handle students robes all the time to launder them. Again, is it the intent to free elves that taints the hats? But then how did Lucius free you if it was all an accident?

Sounds like a real life plot hole full of circular logic that makes no sense.

Dobby blinks his wide eyes and swiftly changes the subject.


End file.
